A New Hollow
by Kamakasie
Summary: Let The Fires once faded become kindled and those that once sought peace be brought once more into conflict. Let The birth of a New Hollow give way to his peace at last. ((Continuation of this story very much depends on feedback and reviews.))
1. An Embers Rebirth

A deep breath, a gasp for air that did not singe his lungs and burn his throat, and he knew he lived once more. Accursed life flowed through his body and the sensation of once more having a body wrought despair through his mind. He lay where he was for a few moments feeling sand against smooth, untainted, skin praying that when he opened his eyes that mark, that burning contract would be gone from his body. He opened his eyes and looked to the front shoulder where the mark lay twisted and burned, it's gaping maw pulling in light hauntingly.

He howled into the night like a wounded beast as anguish took over him.

He cursed the gods, he cursed the mark, he cursed Velka for punishing him this way and he cursed the fire and the light howling and writhing in the sand. So entrapped by his anguish and childish outburst he had very nearly missed the light and warmth nearby. A fire. He ceased his childish tantrum and rose from his spot finally taking in the stark white and black landscape around him. The colour he saw came from the ember that filtered on the sands refusing to burn out despite the lack of fuel.

He was promised peace after the linking, he was promised death, he was promised no more strife. But here he stood before another fire that demanded fuel, he had barely considered this fact when the snarls of a beast took him by surprise. The maw of a black leathery skinned opened as he wheeled around only to have it clamp around his neck and his crimson vitality pulsed out into the sand. His world turned black as he prayed that he would not wake. But he knew he would.

He awoke once more beside the ember still fluttering and stubbornly defying the will of the dark. His smooth skin now replaced with stretched leathery hide and he knew what this fire needed of him. He set to work looking over the horizons about him, seeing the tracks of the beast fade away into the distance, and set off after the beast with just his fists and the iron will to kill the beast. His feet dragged in the sand and he refused to look elsewhere as he followed the beasts tracks barely needing to stop to rest thanks to his natural undead fortitude. He did not know how long he had been tracking the beast, the moon solemnly stared it's place on high down at him and never seemed to cease doing so, but he passed rock formations and dunes far beyond that which he had seen before. Yet even as he travelled further away from where he had started he could still feel the pull of his fire, like a moth to a flame.

He saw the cave like rocks far before he could see it's inhabitants but that soon changed and he found himself staring down the same beast that had attacked him. It's face was armoured much like the Capra demons of Lost Izalith but where the Capra had skull and bone, this strange thing had pure white bone. It slithered like a basilisk yet possessed the elongated mouth of a drake. It seemed to smell his approach and reared its boned head to let out a roar at him but instead of noise came a blast of blue energy that he had no time to avoid. He felt his body crumble and his world went dark.

He awoke once more by his ember and looked out to the distance, truly a strange world, he thought to himself. He stood up and instead of following the now covered tracks he spied a clump of rocks in the distance and trudged through the sand to it. He needed a weapon.

The rocks were difficult to break but having eternity gave the undead plenty of time to be patient in his work of slowly but surely chipping away at a rock with his bare fist. Many times he bled out striking the rock over and over again with just his fist but he did not stop he followed his own beaten path back to the rock each time he awoke. Sometimes a larger of the strange white masked beasts would come along and kill him, speeding up his work, and sometimes he would spy a smaller white masked creature watching him with curiosity. Finally after all of his work the rock crumbled and he was left with what he desired, a chunk of rock large enough that he could use as a weapon.

A voice taunted from beside him in a language he could not understand, it was one of those creatures, a white masked dog like being.

With speed he did not know he possessed he grabbed at the creature managing to get it's tail. It bit and clawed at his arm trying to tear itself free, but he would not be dissuaded so easily, and he brought the rock down on its mask once cracking it and then once more again shattering the beasts boney face. It's body turned to strange ashes and began to float off in some unseen wind but caught in a vortex of some sort and his dark mark burned as it consumed it.

'Hueco Mundo'

That was where he was, his first souls had given him that name, it's name unfamiliar to him he marched back to his ember and knelt before it to offer the soul he had collected. It grew that day from a single ember to a candle light flame and that sweet blissful sensation of pride welled up in him.

He would summon fire from dark and then he would find his way to peace.


	2. Vengeance

Over Three hundred souls he had consumed, three hundred white masked beasts he had slain, and his candle had turned into a small fire providing a warmth and light against the bleakness of this realm. Truly he had learned much for with each soul he consumed he had learned more about where he was, names that meant nothing became detailed stories and places that he had never believed possible became fond memories that swirled within his mind. His camp now began to resemble the shrine where he had first undertaken his journey, though no companions came to his aid like that did in those times. His body had begun to change too, his leathery skin had remained the same however, armour and a shield appeared on his body that resembled Astoran smithing and the rock he had so painfully carved had gone from a simple rock to the broken sword of the hollow unto a straight sword sharp and true.

He had not forged the sword nor had he found the armour, it had simply come to his body as he slept by the grace of whatever God still held him in its favour. The dead among him had ceased their attacks on his camp and it had become harder to hunt the smaller ones, they ran as soon as they spied his form crest the horizon. There did lie the deadlier of foes below and further into the desolate wastelands, despite these deadlier foes he was not concerning himself with them. There was another foe he wished to kill, one he sometimes spied on his hunts, the Hollow that had killed him all that time ago.

He remembered the vague direction he wandered and from the memories he had swallowed he knew the beasts lair lay in the pale moons glare and in the glare of the grand citadel.

His heavy feet took him toward the memories of death and pain. His path cleared of smaller beasts that grew afraid of him and his mind set on his vengeance cold and calculated he approached the caves. He lowered the visor of his helmet and smiled as the beasts maw opened, he was ready this time.

The beast gathered its strange energies within its mouth and the moment he saw it his reflexes took over and he rolled out of the way. The beast looked surprised that it had not stopped his march forward towards it and it charged another blast toward him. His legs sprung into action and he began his mad dash toward the beast it fired once again and he rolled out of the way once again.

It attempted one last time to fire it's blast at him.

By the time it had charged it's blast the undead warrior had reached his prey and he lowered his shoulder ducking beneath the beasts jaw, with speed he was unaware he possessed, and rose forcing his shoulder into its jaw and causing it to fire into the dark sky. He raised his sword and attempted to pierce the hide of the creatures neck, his sword straight and true, it stuck the beast through with little difficulty. He rolled backward raising his sword as the beast thrashed and roared at him speaking in that strange language all these things spoke. The wound he had made spilled black clarit onto the sands only to close with raising steam.

The beast could regenerate then.

It lunged at his throat after realising he would not respond to whatever it was saying. His shield raised on instinct alone and it's jaws snapped shut on the astoran steel, the frame creaking and threatening to break under the pressure of the beasts attack.

The beast had incredible regeneration, like the smaller ones, but this ones seemed to keep him alive while the others simply went unconscious. So he did the logical thing.

He attacked the presented target of the beasts mask.

His sword slipped beneath one of the beasts void eye sockets. The undead began to pry causing the beast to try and twist and thrash against him, roaring in pain once more. He tore his shield from the beasts mouth and slung a leg over the back of the beast digging his sword deeper into its white skull with his own roar he could feel it's mask being torn off from its face.

Then it began to beg.

He did not need to know it's language to know what begging sounded like, its roars turning into high pitched squeals of panic and pain as it realised he could not be shaken from its back. He was silent as he pried the things mask from its face, cracking it in half, as he pried his sword upwards.

It let out one final squeal of pain and fired off more blasts in all directions as he finally killed the beast.


	3. Fire Hath Begat Fire

It started with an ember that flirted about his hand, extending from the fire and becoming one with his hand, as he concentrated upon the fire on his hand he saw It grow on his hand becoming larger and larger till it was a small inferno in the palm of his hand. The Hollow smiled to himself as he rose from his place by the fire and tossed the small fire as far as he could. The fire soared through the air much like he remembered and landed a fair distance away splashing the white sands with glorious firelight.

He felt something stir within him, a feeling of danger, or rather a feeling of hunger. It appeared nearby him and his head whipped about as he searched for the source of his panic. A lone figure caught his eye standing on top of a pillar.

It was human, or at least that was the form it took.

It wore stark white clothing like nothing he had seen before, it disappeared as his eyes met The red eyes of this intruder of his privacy. It soon reappeared before him not even a stone's throw away.

"a new Arrancar?" it said looking down on him from a nearby sand dune "and not one that serves Our Lord?"

He could understand it.

"I serve no Lord" his voice, raspy and dry, retorted "The fire is all that I require"

"So you are the one all the Hollows are scared of" the white things mouth curled into a cruel smile as it drew an eastern sword from its side "The one they say cannot die"

"I am The accursed" he once more said straining to get the words out. He stood recognising the signs of what was to come, he drew his own sword and gave a curt bow to his new foe.

"I am Tercio the three hundredth Arrancar" it boasted allowing him to come closer and closer with his sword drawn and shield raised "but an unranked Hollow such as yourself should be no challenge even for me and slaying you will surely please Lord Aizen."

When he had approached to a satisfactory degree he took a deep breath in and rolled swiftly to be behind the beast. He swung his sword only for it to clash across steel of the beasts own sword.

He could have sworn he had rolled behind the thing but it faced him with its sword drawn.

"too slow" it cackled and raised a hand to him gathering some very familiar energy.

Instinct took over and he kept back and rolled as soon as the beam was fired. Keeping out of the beams way he had no time to lose as the beast appeared before him striking viciously only barely missing him as his shield blocked most of the strikes. He had not been on the defensive for a long time and he knew his foe could tell. It pressed the attack striking his shield over and over again.

His heart sank as he watched his foes sword strike through his shield and pierce his shoulder in his dark mark.

He howled.

The beast retreated barely missing a beat where he was panting ,broken and in pain. He tossed the now useless shield to the side and grasped his sword in both hands, glaring from beneath his helm, he charged the beast.

It did not even bother blocking him this time as he swung at its neck, trying to behead the thing and end the fight. The sound of steel on steel rang out into the night as his sword struck the things skin.

"no Sonido, no hierro, no ressurection." It looked at him directly "why were all the other hollows ever scared of such a weakling."

He was suddenly looking at his own headless body crumbling to the ground for a few moments as he dissipated slowly.

He awoke once more by his fire as his foe was walking away. The time for honour was gone and he summoned fire from his rage and tossed it into the things retreating back. It howled in pain and twisted confused suddenly seeing him standing by the fire.

His shield had not come back but he did not want it.

The thing dashed toward him, but this time he was prepared, He rolled to the side, as it tried to pierce his undead heart. It looked confused, it had assumed him dead but here he remained. He summoned yet another fire into his hand yet this time he tossed it directly into the air above him, then took a strong stance waiting for the thing to strike.

He could not be sure how he knew where it would strike but his sword met the things strikes to defend himself. He would not be able to strike this thing with his sword so he would strike it another way, he stood his ground refusing to be moved by the relentless offence. He felt his legs struck out from beneath him as the beast had obviously had enough playing. It went to push it's sword into his heart only to find fire crashing down on its head.

He took his chance and grabbed the beast by its collar in one hand and pushed his other into the hole that resided in its chest.

"burn" he hissed at the thing and summoned fire directly inside it's dark hollow hole. It's skin could resist his sword but it's innards would not resist combustion.

It looked panicked as it fell to its knees clawing at its own throat as fire emerged from its screaming mouth and it's very pores burned from within. He climbed atop the thing holding his hand over it's panicked face and summoned more fire inside of it, over and over he did this as panicked realisation came across it's face.

It felt itself being consumed by his dark marinas he callously burned it from within.

"BURN" he commanded the boastful hollow as the stumps of his legs bled into the sands and fire melted the things eyes from its sockets and it's fish like mask cracked from the heat within.

He felt his vision go dark as the things mask cracked into thousands of shards and splinters and was consumed by his dark mark. He fell forward into the sand with a cruel smile on his face.


	4. A New Purpose

The fire flickered as he sat in silence, how long had passed he had no idea, his power grew with each foe that fell before him and more came from the deserts to find this fabled Hollow. They boasted numbers and allegiance to a lordly creature named Aizen. He had more scars than he cared to count, remnants of the battles with these minor Hollows that sought him out, most under orders from this lord that commanded them. His normal musings of his purpose outside of keeping the fire had kept him sane for now but he felt the familiar ebb of memories from his mind, forgetting what where he was for moments, looking for the spires of Anor Londo or even Lothric to guide his way.

" _Sinners All"_ the noise startled the Undead into action rolling away from the fire and reaching for his sword. " _Sinners All"_

The noise echoed across the desert shrilly.

He rose and began walking toward the noise, it spoke the language of the Ancient Lords, a language he had nearly forgotten. His legs carried him forward toward the noise, a familiar path toward familiar surroundings, no foes crossed his path as most feared his fiery wrath as it were, those few lessers that did follow him did so far away from his view.

" _Sinners All"_ he heard the voice call him closer and in the distance a dark spinning gyre caused dust to rise and sand to bellow away from a point in the desert. As he followed the voice the spinning gyre revealed itself to be millions of dark feathered crows gathered, flying, around a single point. He could see something within the Crow storm and as he approached he heard the storm crowing angrier and angrier.

He turned to see the small crowd of lesser hollows following him gaining some form of bravery from their pack mentality. The storm had another plan for them.

" _SINNERS ALL!"_ it seemed to call as one and thousands of crows shot out of the storm and began to swoop and scratch at the gathered Hollows that had followed him hoping for his scraps.

The Hollows screamed as the undead raised his hands to defend himself from the massacre.

He could see clearly in the swarm a figure standing by the very same rocks where he had killed the crocodile like creature, his first true test. The figure beckoned him closer extending a dark hand toward him and gave him a clear path through the storm. He moved forward tenderly through the gyre of feathers before him toward the figure and as he entered the eye of the storm, by the cave he had first become more, he found himself in the presence of someone, something, much greater than he. He fell to his knees in front of the figure, legs failing the Undead warrior, the figure, clothed in feathers and crow bones extended its hand, a pale feminine hand, and the Undead felt the urge to extend his own hand out to her. His own gauntlet covered hand met hers and with the lightest brush of her fingers upon his palm he felt pain, a pain more severe than he had felt since he had gotten to these blasted lands. He pulled his hand back and clutched it as he let out a howl of agony into the sky.

The lady in black leaned forward to him as he clutched his hand and whispered to him

" _Sinners All"_ The voice charged him

The Undead tore his gauntlet from his hand, burned into his hand, now the sigil of a crow in flight. He fell to the side as he felt the souls of those hollows who had died from the crows begin to flow into him. His vision began fading and he heard one last time the crows call out.

" _Sinners All!"_


	5. A Name

Legends had grown about the Hollow of the forest, if you are ever attacked by a raven then he was to follow, if you wander into the forest alone, then he was to meet you and if you challenged the black hollow of the forest then you would fall and be consumed.

They tried to run from him, always tried, killing him had not become an option anymore, his blackened armour had seen to it, and ashes always seemed to follow in his wake. Ashes fell into the sands around his fire, ashes gave nutrients to the soil and blood quenched it's thirst. Soon a forest of red stone tree's grew around him each time he woke and his Mark of Velka hummed with a new sinner to be punished that wandered into his lands. He was never as swift as his foe's, but none could withstand the relentlessness of a punisher that would not die, despite consuming the power to 'Sonido' as the local hollows called it.

He set out as always making his way out into the wastelands He had been blessed with the gift given to him by his new Dark Lady, A sword of the Ringed Knights, and he was happy to use it in her name to punish those she deemed worthy of his sword. He wandered through his forest alone when the feeling of movement caught his attention, something was coming to him, whatever it was it moved fast. He reached the edge of his forest and watched as a dust cloud on the horizon grew larger as it approached him.

The hum of his mark grew into a warm sensation in his entire hand and then, as he saw what crested the hill, it began to burn. A group of Hollows stood atop the hill and stared down at him their shapes vaguely human but not, some with stilted shoulders and another with elongated claws. There must have been at least twenty of the beasts, with his burning hand he ran it over the blade of his sword causing the blade to burst into dark flames.

They began drawing on power and began their assault with a wave of Cero attacks that blasted the land around him throwing sand and debris up into the air, a distraction, he raised his sword to block a pair of claws that came out of the dust. Gnashing jaws followed and he was forced onto the defensive as each of these hollows struck at him, he held them at bay for a time, striking where he could only for them to retreat and heal as their comrades came in to distract and harass him.

So they could use tactics.

Well so could he.

He looked to one, a particularly large one and pointed his sword at him and lunged at him. He ignored the others as they scratched and bit at him, slipping in between the cracks of his armour and taking chunks out of his undead flesh. He plunged his sword into the hollow and forced the dark flames to consume him and the hollow. The pain he felt was nothing to the pride he felt in killing the invader and the other hollows backed away for a moment watching the dark flames.

 _Lullaby_

He walked out of the flames shrouded in the dark flames of humanity, the flames clung to his back like wings as he surged forward like a force of nature, the hollows before him, Adjuchas he had learned from consuming the last one, his dark wings burned two on his way to the third and his blades attacks arced in onyx fire. He became the eye of an inferno as he struck without fear or hesitation in his heart, he needed no shield for his determination to punish and his loyalty to the dark lady would keep him waking by his fire.

The last of them began to run from him and so he cut at it's arm. He raised his own hand and summoned Abyssal fire causing the thing to screech in pain and sear the wound and even as it ran away the fire of humanity burned its stump forevermore.


End file.
